Bruce beams at Zaki display

Bruce: Reasons to be cheerful

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Steve Bruce was full of praise for Amr Zaki after the Egyptian led Wigan to a 2-1 win over Manchester City on Sunday.

The African ace proved to be a handful for the Blues defence all afternoon, while he also converted the match-winning penalty.

The 25-year-old has been a revelation since arriving at the JJB Stadium on a season-long loan from Zamalek and has quickly established cult hero status among the club's supporters.

Appetite

"I have said it before, when I went to Cairo I saw him play like that," Bruce told Sky Sports.

"He's different, he's a throwback, if you like, to the old fashioned centre-forward.

"He's a big, big crowd favourite here now and I can see why. He plays with enormous appetite and he's as strong as a bull.

"He's playing against (Richard) Dunne and (Micah) Richards today and the two of them know they have had a game today. He's done very, very well and we're very pleased with him."

Exaggerate

The decision which handed Zaki the opportunity to notch from the spot has come under question, with Wilson Palacios' theatrical tumble under pressure from Javier Garrido creating heated debate.

Bruce, though, feels there was enough contact from the City man to warrant a penalty and refused to question the antics of his Honduran midfielder.

"For me that's a penalty straight away, I think," he added.

"He did exaggerate it but there was contact and he's gone down. For me the referee made the right decision. Yes, he made a meal of it but contact was made."

Improving

The win moves Wigan into the top half of the Premier League table and Bruce believes his side are beginning to fulfil their potential.

"It's the accumulation of points we are looking for and to keep improving," he said.

"What people are seeing now is that we have a decent team and that's the way it looks to me.

"If we can keep improving we will prove that."